MOOREFIELD – A Southwestern Ontario chicken farmer dealing with a disease outbreak or damaged barn will now have somewhere to turn for help.

The federal and provincial governments announced Thursday they are giving Chicken Farmers of Ontario a little more than $350,000 to fund a new program that will help farmers reacting to emergency situations.

“Projects like this give consumers and processors the assurances that chickens in this province will be handled humanely in any emergency,” Ontario Agriculture Minister Ernie Hardeman said Thursday. “At the same time, our poultry farmers will stay competitive and productive while managing those situations.”

Farmers will have access to third-party expertise and services to help them safely and humanely handle their birds when emergencies – such as fires, floods or extreme weather – strike, Hardeman said.

Specifics weren’t available Thursday, but Ed Benjamins, chairperson of Chicken Farmers of Ontario, said the program is needed as, up until now, area farmers only had access to stop-gap measures.

“It wasn’t reliable. It wasn’t well put together. We used certain services to get the job done,” he said. “This now puts a program in place that will let things happen and be done in a very responsible way.”

Benjamins’ organization is working alongside the Ontario Broiler Hatching Egg and Chicken Commission and the Association of Ontario Chicken Processors under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership.

Perth-Wellington MPP Randy Pettapiece said chickens comprise a key part of the province’s agriculture sector and the economy, but this new program is “especially relevant” in his riding as it’s home to more than 250 family-run chicken farms.

“I don’t know how often we use it, but if it’s used once that’s a good thing,” Benjamins said.

The program is under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership’s protection and assurance stream. The funding announcement was made Thursday at Benjamins’ farm about 45 minutes north of Stratford.